


Seizaburo's Completely Innocent Brothel Exploits

by Inner Voice (inner_v0ice)



Category: Kaze Hikaru
Genre: Female Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2011-12-26
Updated: 2011-12-31
Packaged: 2017-10-28 04:30:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/303748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inner_v0ice/pseuds/Inner%20Voice
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What <i>does</i> Sei do with her three days a month at the Hanaya?<br/>(In which the Bechdel Test has not yet been invented, and half the characters are unaware that they're passing it anyway.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Sewing

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Cyphomandra](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cyphomandra/gifts).



> Takes place (obviously) when Akesato is still at the Hanaya.  
> This isn't particularly related to what you asked for, but the idea wouldn't leave me alone...

Sei woke to the sound of Akesato humming quietly somewhere nearby. She rolled over and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. Akesato was sitting by the window, stitching at a magnificent blue-and-gold kimono laid across her lap.

“G’morning, Akesato-san!” Sei yawned.

“Oh, good morning, Osei-chan!” Akesato said, looking up from her work with a smile.

“What’re you doing?”

“The hem of this tore on something sharp a few days ago. I _think_ I can repair the rip so it doesn’t show. I hope I don't have to buy a whole new kimono."

Sei pulled herself into a sitting position. “Do you have anything else that needs sewing?”

“A few things. It’s nice to have the time to take care of these things while you’re here.” Akesato smiled at her, but Sei’s mind was on a different track.

“Why don’t you give me some of the other things? If I work on them too, that cuts the work you have to do in half!”

Akesato stared at her a bit blankly.

“It’s not like I have anything else to do but wait for the three days to be up, so it’s no trouble," Sei added.

“Osei-chan, ah…” Akesato paused, searching for words. "I didn't know that you sewed."

Sei blinked at her. "Well, of course I sew— _oh!_ " She grinned. "Don't worry, Akesato-san, I can sew! In fact, everyone at headquarters says it's just like having a girl around!"

Sei and Akesato both burst into giggles, and Akesato stood up to retrieve a bundle of garments from her lacquered chest.

"I wonder what the other girls would say if I told them that Seizaburo-han was spending his time here helping me with my sewing?" said Akesato as she handed half of the bundle to Sei. They both giggled again as they settled down to their mending.


	2. Practicing Medicine

There was some kind of commotion in the hallway outside. Akesato slid the door open a crack, and she and Sei peeked out to see what was going on. Several girls were gathered outside a room down the hall, whispering to each other with worried expressions.

"What's wrong?" Akesato asked, poking her head out of the doorway.

"Oh! Ah— nothing's wrong, Akesato-chan! Nothing at all! Go back to Kamiya-han!" one of the girls said, flapping her hand to shoo Akesato back into her room.

"Is it Yoshino-chan?" Akesato persisted instead, stepping out into hall and heading towards the small crowd.

The girl cast a nervous glance at the open doorway where Sei was still peering out at them, then whispered, "Yoshino-chan's a bit sick right now. Nothing to worry about."

"Someone's sick?" Sei asked, poking her head out into the hall.

"Don't worry, Kamiya-han, it's nothing, really!" the girl said hastily.

“Here, let me take a look— oops!” Sei had almost gone out into the hall with her chest unbound. She retreated back into the room, beckoning urgently to Akesato, who joined her and shut the door hastily. After a few moments and one muffled “ow-not-so-tight!”, Akesato slid the door open again and she and Sei re-emerged into the hall.

“Let me take a look at her,” Sei repeated.

“ _Ehhh?_ Kamiya-han, what are you—”

“My father was a doctor," Sei said with a smile, "and I used to help at his clinic. Maybe I can help Yoshino-san."

The Hanaya girls gave her looks ranging from the incredulous to the suspicious, but they shuffled aside to let her into Yoshino’s room. Yoshino herself was lying on her futon, pale as death and shivering even under a pile of blankets. Sei knelt beside her and felt her forehead and neck. Yoshino stared at her in surprise, then looked at the girls gathered outside her doorway, who simply shrugged in reply.

"Yoshino-san, I'll need to feel your wrists to take your pulse."

Yoshino hesitated for a moment before bringing her right arm out from under the blankets and holding it out for Sei to take.

"Now open your mouth," Sei said after a few moments, and Yoshino complied, clearly giving in to the inevitable. She didn’t protest either when Sei pushed the blankets down to below her waist and poked thoughtfully at her abdomen, occasionally asking whether it hurt.

"Well," Sei concluded, giving Yoshino a reassuring smile, “the good news is that it’s nothing serious. Just an ordinary fever. Still, I think you should take some medicine.” She looked up at Akesato. “Akesato-san, can you send someone out to the apothecary for _maoto?_ ”

Akesato blinked, then smiled and turned to look for Oshizu in the crowd. “Oshizu-chan, you heard Seizaburo-han. Come with me, I’ll give you a little money to pay the apothecary.” She headed for her room, Oshizu trailing behind her.

It took a moment for Sei to realize that this left her alone in Yoshino’s room, with half the residents of the Hanaya staring at her curiously. She blushed, stammered something about getting well soon to Yoshino, and rushed off after Akesato.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year! I'm so sorry the rest of this fic has been slow in coming, but it's on its way!
> 
>  _[Maoto](http://kampo.ca/herbs-formulas/formulas/maoto/)_ (麻黃湯, "ephedra decoction") is a traditional Japanese herbal medicine. It's used to treat fever, and there is scientific evidence that it may be effective in reducing either [fever](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19483419) or [discomfort](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14971716).
> 
> The use of these herbal medicines is _kampo_ (Chinese medicine) rather than _rampo_ (Dutch medicine, the type of medicine that Sei's father is said to have practiced). However, rampo techniques were apparently seen as a supplement to the traditional kampo medicine, rather than being a completely separate system of medicine, so it's quite plausible that the Tominaga clinic would have used kampo remedies. (Also, the only information available about the actual practice of rampo techniques involves things like _major surgery_ , which is a bit too extreme for Sei to be doing in her spare time!)  
> [More on rampo: [Samurai Science](http://passingstrangeness.wordpress.com/2009/07/23/rangaku-or-the-wonders-of-samurai-science/); [Ch. 29](http://www.columbia.edu/~wtd1/w4030/sjt/Ch29.pdf) of _Sources of Japanese Tradition_ (Columbia University Press, 2001)]


End file.
